Kris Menace - Electric Horizon / Features

  • Share
  • Whether Christophe Hoeffel realizes it or not, there's little chance he'll ever make anything as authoritative and triumphant as "Discopolis," the half-disco, half-electro stomper he recorded as Kris Menace with Lifelike back in 2005. Even the stuff on Idiosyncrasies, the triple-CD compilation he released on his label Compuphonic in 2009, didn't have moments nearly as towering. Productivity doesn't seem to be a problem for Hoeffel, though, considering he now has enough material at hand to simultaneously release two brand new albums: the instrumental Electric Horizon and the vocal-led, guest-filled Features. What we get from these records are 24 disco-fied house tracks with enough prismatic glow to light those dark and lonely winter nights, despite some irksome flaws. One thing you can't help but notice after hearing both albums is how unimaginative Menace's beats sometimes are. Electric Horizon suffers most from this fact, especially when its song structures are laid bare, as they are on the title track, "Eglecy," the anemic "Schnulzepspiel" and album opener "Falling Star." Most of the the album is built on a straight and steady 4/4 pulse that never really changes, which makes it feel somehow immobile. The dynamics that are present come from the arpeggiated, Blade Runner-esque pads that layer on top of one another, a trick that's especially effective on "Trusting Me," "eFeel" and the Italo-flavored (and quite gorgeous) "We Are." Features mostly goes for a more pop-influenced, four-minute song format, helped along by a cast of distinguished vocalists. Barely lasting 180 seconds, the Chelonis R. Jones collaboration "Voodoo Dilate" is a straight-to-the-point exercise in concision that benefits from the singer's overbearing persona, as does "Trusting Me," featuring the ubiquitous Robert Owens, and "2Nite4U" with the legendary Romanthony (although this one's weird mastering makes it stand out awkwardly from the rest). Tracks with members from Simian, The Glass and The Presets press the right indie dance buttons. "Love is Everywhere" (with Lawrence LT Thompson from Kiki Twins), on the other hand, is so plainly cheesy and excessive it might not sound out of place at the end of a Swedish House Mafia set. There are legitimate thrills to be had on both Electric Horizon and Features, albeit predictable and straightforward ones.
  • Tracklist
      Electric Horizon 01. Falling Star 02. Trusting Me 03. Timeless 04. Efeel feat. koweSix 05. Fly Me To The Moon 06. Schnulzenspiel 07. Electric Horizon 08. Environs-Nous D’amour 09. Elove 10. Eglecy 11. We Are 12. Soulsurfer Features 01. Lone Runner feat. Unai 02. Waiting For You feat. Black Hills 03. Hide Kris Menace feat. Miss Kittin 04. Voodoo Dilate (Samo) feat. Chelonis R Jones 05. Love Is Everywhere feat. Lawrence LT Thompson 06. Trusting Me feat. Robert 07. Higher Love feat. Julian Hamilton 08. Golden Ratio feat. Simon Lord 09. Meant For You feat. The Glass 10. Eye Opener feat. Xavier Naidoo 11. 2Nite4U feat. Romanthony 12. Starr feat. Thomas Gandey 13. The Grass Man feat. Dodgy
RA